Peres to Obama: We trust you on Iran

3/20/13 12:11 PM EDT

JERUSALEM—Israeli President Shimon Peres emerged from a meeting with President Barack Obama Wednesday to offer effusive praise of Obama for recent U.S. help to Israel and to express trust in Obama's policies towards Iran and the Middle East peace process.

"You arrive here already with an impressive record of answering our needs, particularly and unforgettably in the domain of security," Peres said during a statement to reporters.

"The greatest danger is a nuclear Iran," added Peres, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Obama last year. "We trust your policy which calls….to try [to resolve the issue] by non-military means with a clear statement that both other options remain on the table. You have made it clear that your intention is not to contain but to prevent."

Peres also backed Obama's effort to rejuvenate the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but expressed grave concern that unrest in Syria could lead to the use of chemical weapons—something some Israeli officials believe may already have taken place.

"We cannot afford for those weapons to fall in the terrorist hands. It could lead to…tragedy," the Israeli president said.

"You came to us with a clear message. No one should let skepticism win the day," Peres added. "There is no other way to make the future better. There is no better leader to make it possible."

After Peres spoke, Obama declared that the U.S. will stand by Israel in efforts to make peace and keep the nation safe. "In this work, the state of Israel will have no greater friend than the United States," Obama said.

Obama said he was particularly moved by being serenaded as he arrived by schoolchildren waving American and Israeli flags.

"Their dreams are much the same as children everywhere. In another sense, thoug, their lives reflect the difficult realities that Israelis face everyday," Obama declared, referring to the rockets that have rained down on Israel from Gaza.

"They want to be safe. They want to be free from rockets that hit their homes or their schools…..That’s the future that they deserve," Obama said.

Before their statements, Obama and Peres ceremonially planted a magnolia tree by heaping a bit of soil on its base. In his statement later, Obama made a reference to the Talmud. He cited the story of Choni, a tale underscoring obligations of one generation to future generations.

Obama's encounter with Peres is a warm-up of sorts for the day's main events: talks and a dinner with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.